There’s an excellent article up on MercuryNews.com about the stress North Americans are feeling to cram more productivity into less time because of the advent of new technology. Essentially, BlackBerry users feel that they have to multi-task 32 hours of productivity into a 24 hour day.
This desire to always be connected has led to increased stress levels among workers and, in some cases, lower productivity, as people who answer a few emails over lunch feel like they’ve justified more goof-off time back at the office.
“E-mail overload. Vibrating cell phones. The digital connection goes to meetings, where BlackBerry messages can be furtively typed by thumb under the table on tiny keyboards. And on it goes: at dinner, in the airport — even on vacation, so-called knowledge workers remain tied to the workplace.”
To combat this, it’s important to set limits. Here at BlackBerry Cool, we use this rule of thumb: on the weekends, occasionally check your emails to stay in touch, but keep your BlackBerry on silent mode so it’s not constantly interrupting your day. Of course, during the weekday, we’re email machines.
To read the rest of the article, go here.
